William e



(No Model.)

w. R.'BAKER & H. E. PRIDMORE.

GRAIN BINDER.

.No. 370,804. Patented'Sept. 20, 1887.

$5 3112M Gw n/way UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICEO \VILLIAM It. BAKER AND HENRY E. PRIDMORE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AS-

' SIGNORS TO THE MCCORMICK SAME PLACE.

HARVESTING MACHINE COMPANY, OF

GRAIN-BINDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 370,304, dated September 20, 1887.

Application filed July 10, 1886. Ser'al X0. 207,664. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known. that we, WILLIAM R. BAKER and HENRY E. PRIDMORE, citizens of the United States, residing at Chicago. in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grain-Binders, of which the following is a specification.

In nearly allbinders of the present day using to trip fingers or tripping instrumentalities whereby the band placing, holding,anduniting mechanism is set in motion by the pressure of the accumulating gavel, the binder-arm is provided with a guard-finger described on an are 1 5 concentric with its shaft, which serves as a cutoff to hold back the incoming grain when the binder-arm in its movementpasses across the grain-passage leading to the trip-fingers or out side compressor and keep it away from the gavel being encircled and bound. Almost invariably the binder-arm is located beneath the grain-table or decking and rises through'a slot in that decking when it moves to place the band. This brings the extreme outer end of the guard-finger very low down and near the ground as the arm recedes to its position of rest, and usually causes it to project beyond the end sill or outer lateral bar of the wheelframe, where it catches in the stubble or is 0 struck by stones or stumps and frequently bent or broken, necessitating a stoppage of the machine until it can be straightened, or until the arm can be replaced. We therefore propose to apply to the end sill of the base-frame, or at the point upon said frame where the heel of the guard-finger comes when at rest, abridgestrap, or other suitable inclosing-shield, into or between which theheel of the finger may enter as it recedes beneath the decking irreo spective of the back-and-forth adjustments of the binder, and which shall be of such strength as to insure adequate protection to said finger.

The drawing represents so much'of a bind ing attachment and harvester-frame as is nec- 5 essary to a description of our invention.

A represents the end sill of the harvester at the stubble side thereof, and B B other sills, which form the lateral bars of the wheel-frame.

C is a horizontal bar or beam affixed to the outer elevator-struts to support theinner side of the binding attachment. Rack-standards D are also shown, secured to the lateral bars The binding attachment chosen for illustration is one that is now well known to the trade, and has been for some time on the market, and

we will but briefly enumerate its features.

E is a tubular bar supported from the end sill of the harvester by means of standards 6, braced by rods 6, and having yokes or keepers 6 which receive said bar. Of these standards but one is shown. E is a corresponding and parallel tubular bar adjacent to the beforementioned beam upon the elevator-struts and supported therefrom by means of keepers 6. These two bars will of course be connected by cross pieces or timbers, which we have deemed it unnecessary to show, in such manner as to form a rigid supporting-frame for the operating parts of the binder, and by means of alink, e, and operating mechanism this frame will be adjusted back and forth in its supports to compensate for varying lengths of grain.

To the inner tubular frame-bar is pivoted a table-trip, F, extending thence outward to the tripping and compressing fingers F, which are loosely mounted upon a rock-shaft, f, and

by means of a spring, f, are allowed a yielding movement thereon.

Beneath the table-trip runs the binder-arm shaft G, carrying the needle or binder-arm G, of the ordinary form, and provided with the usualguard-finger, g, described from the point of said arm upon an arc concentric or practically concentric with the axis of the shaft, so that it may move constantly in the same line as it is carried through the grain-passage in the rise of the binder-arm to place the cord and hold back the incoming grain without pushing it back, simply stopping it.

Above the table-trip, at a sufficient distance to afford a suitable space for the passage of the grain, is the breast-plate H, and above this the main tyer=wheel H, mounted upon a shaft, h, which carries one of the ejector-fingers h, while the other is carried by the said-wheel.

even break it, and also by the fact that it must K notting, holding, and cutting devices are indicated at I, in position to be driven by this Wheel, but need no specific description.

NOW, in binding grain the movement of the needle to place the cord in the grasp of the holder and across the knotting-jaws is of such length that the guard-finger is necessarily much longer than the needle itself, so that it may continue to close the passage-way after the needle has reached the holder and may project sufliciently beneath the table-trip or decking to avoid any danger of entanglement. This brings its heel end, when the needle is down in its position of rest, very near to the ground, barely escaping the upper face of the end sill and projecting out beyond that end sill, so that if there are any obstructions-such as stones,

or stumps, or heavy stubbleit isliable to be struck and bent. This liability of injury to the machine is greatly increased by the fact that the length of the finger is such that it will bring a powerful leverage on the binder-arm, and if not bent itself will bend the latter or be made extremely light. To protect it, therefore, when in its position of rest, we secure a bridge-strap, K, or other suitable guard to the end sill, projecting out beyond the end sill sufficiently to allow the heel of the finger to fall to its extreme limit, and since the binder is adjustable backand forth, and the position of the finger along the end sill therefore liable to considerable change, we make this bridge or guard of sufficient length along such sill to compensate for these adjustments.

The bridge-strap, as represented in the drawing, is of wrought-iron, a simple strap of sufiicient strength to resist all. ordinary obstructions, bentinto shape to afford two feet, 70, one of which is bolted to the side of the sill and one to the top, and this is, in our opinion, the cheapest and most reliable mode of constructing it, but wedo not intend to limit ourselves either to the material of which it is composed or to the position which it occupies, the essential point being that it should be so located as to shield the end of the guard-finger when the latter is inits position of rest, and that it should have sufficient strength for that'purpose.

We claim as our invention- 1. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the binding attachment adjustable back and forth upon the harvesterframe, the binder-arm mounted on a shaft beneath the grain-passage and having a concentric guard-finger, and an elongated shield upon one of the base-sills of the harvester to receive the heel of the guard-finger and permit of its adjustment back and forth.

2. The combination, substantially as herein before set forth, with the end sill of the harvester-frame and with the binder-arm and its concentric finger, of the shield for the heel of said finger, formed of a metal strap bent into the shape described, having one foot bolted to the side of the sill and the other foot bolted to the top of said sill.

WILLIAM R. BAKER. HENRY E. PRIDMORE. Witnesses:

S. O. A. HQLTH, PAUL ARNOLD. 

